It’s Not The Ol’ Harry O’s, But This Long-Time Dive Is The Place to be for the Stanley Cup Final in LA’s South Bay Beach Cities
Oh, for the days of Harry O’s.
Not just for its status as one of the South Bay’s all-time great pick-up bars, but also as a place to watch hockey.
Watch hockey? In Los Angeles? In the South Bay Beach Cities!?
Well don’t adjust your computer screens or smart phones, because L.A., can indeed be a hockey town. It just takes the LA Kings being in the Stanley Cup Final to make it happen.
And since many Kings live in the South Bay Beach Cities, there’s a special connection with the players among the residents. That’s what made Harry O’s so popular and Hermosa and Manhattan Beach so unique among even hockey-crazed cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Boston and New York. And even LA Live, where a lot of LA Kings fans are going to watch the games.
And now, with the Kings in the Stanley Cup Final and Harry O’s gone (it’s now Sharkeez Manhattan Beach), the hot spot to watch the Kings is the North End in Hermosa Beach.
Many Kings live close to the North End and pop into the place on occasion, and that is why it’s the South Bay’s hockey hot spot. The local residents see the players, get to know them, have a Bud Light or two (or three, or more) with them, and are now in there hoping the players will return as Stanley Cup Champions.
The North End – long-time local like myself prefer to refer to it by as its former name, Critters – is located at what some residents call “Five Points.” And that is the rather odd intersection of five streets at one point – did CalTrans design this!? – across from El Gringo. It’s at 26th and Hermosa Ave. The precise address is 2626 Hermosa Ave.
The first game of the Stanley Cup Final was Wednesday – a 2-1 Kings overtime win – and the bar was 75% full, all with Kings fans. The next game is Saturday ( 5 p.m., LA time). Here’s the remaining schedule, all times 5 p.m, PDT:
• Game 3: Monday, June 4
• Game 4: Wednesday, June 6
• Game 5: Saturday, June 9
• Game 6: Monday, June 11
• Game 7: Wednesday June 13
And here’s other suggestions for spots bars to watch the Kings in the Beach Cities:
• Sharkeez Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach (remember, the latter is in the location of Harry O’s)
• FFFF
• American Junkie, especially for Game 2 when it’s Happy Hour on a Saturday until 7 p.m. ($3 beers, even premium ones like Stella Artois)
• Game Changers, Hermosa Beach
• Shark’s Cover, Manhattan Beach
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